Struzan, Drew
Entry updated 16 July 2025. Tagged: Artist.
(1947- ) US artist who first studied his craft at the ArtCenter College of Design, then located in Los Angeles, California. He was first employed as a staff artist at the design studio Pacific Eye & Ear, producing many music album covers, but became better known for film posters. Early work in this area included posters for the H G Wells-based Food of the Gods (1976) and Empire of the Ants (1977), the latter also appearing on a Tied story collection. His breakthrough project was a poster for the 1978 re-release of Star Wars (1977) created in collaboration with Charles White III; his work for this franchise was much admired by George Lucas. Subsequent poster commissions included Blade Runner (1982), E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), The Thing (1982), Back to the Future (1985), *batteries not included (1987) and films in the Indiana Jones franchise. His artwork has appeared on many books tied to Indiana Jones and Star Wars. Many examples of his work for the latter are collected in the interactive The Art of Drew Struzan: The Star Wars™ Portfolio (graph 1999 cd-rom).
Struzan was noted for working rapidly, developing his initial sketches with skilled airbrush work and adding coloured-pencil highlights. He has also produced artwork for Board Games, collectible plates, Comics (drawing Superman and others), numerous US postage stamps, and Videogames. His film posters are assembled as The Movie Posters of Drew Struzan (graph 2004) and a broader selection of his work as Oeuvre (graph 2004). Following his copious artwork for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), he announced his retirement in September 2008, but has several times (2012-2019) re-emerged for particular projects. His life and work are examined in the documentary Drew: The Man Behind the Poster (2013) directed by Erik Sharkey. Sadly, as a result of Alzheimer's disease he is no longer able to paint. [DRL]
Drew Struzan
born Portland, Oregon: 18 March 1947
works
- The Art of Drew Struzan: The Star Wars™ Portfolio (Santa Fe, New Mexico: Cimarron International, 1999) [cd-rom: graph: na/]
- The Movie Posters of Drew Struzan (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Running Press, 2004) [coll: graph: hb/Drew Struzan]
- Oeuvre (Toronto, Ontario: Dreamwave Productions, 2004) [coll: graph: introduction by George Lucas: hb/Drew Struzan]
links
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